Help to Save: the 50% government bonus for people on Universal Credit or Working Tax Credit

Help to Save is a government savings scheme that pays a bonus of 50p for every £1 you save. You can pay in up to £50 each calendar month for four years, which is £2,400 in total, and the most you can earn in bonus money over that period is £1,200¹. The scheme was launched in 2018 to help working families on low incomes build up a rainy-day fund².

The account is open to people who receive Working Tax Credit or who claim Universal Credit and meet an earnings condition³. You earn two tax-free bonuses, one at the end of the second year and one at the end of the fourth, and both are worked out from the highest balance your account has reached rather than from what is in it on any particular day¹. The bonus is paid into your bank account, not into the Help to Save account itself¹.

Take-up has historically been low², but the scheme is set to change substantially: the government has confirmed it will make Help to Save permanent, extend eligibility to more Universal Credit claimants from April 2028, and open it up to banks, building societies and credit unions so they can offer accounts directly⁴.

Help to Save pays a 50% bonus on up to £50 a month

The core deal is simple: for every £1 you save, the government adds 50p in bonus money². The most you can pay into your account each calendar month is £50, which adds up to £2,400 over the four years of the account, and the most you can earn from your savings in that time is £1,200 in bonus money¹.

There is no minimum payment. You can pay in any amount between £1 and £50 a month⁶, and you do not need to make a minimum payment to get the bonus⁵. You can also skip months without losing the account, because the bonuses are based on the highest balance your account reaches, not on a record of paying in every month⁷.

The scheme is being used most often by people who save the maximum. Official statistics to April 2026 show 293,600 open Help to Save accounts, with 656,700 accounts opened since the scheme began and around 566,650 people having paid money in. The average deposit per person per month has remained at £48, and 94% of monthly deposits are for the maximum £50. There are also 38,600 open accounts that have still received no deposit⁸.

Because the bonus is a government payment rather than interest, it does not depend on the Bank Rate or on any provider's commercial decisions. That makes it different from ordinary savings accounts, where the rate can change; the savings section explains how those accounts work, and how a savings account works covers interest in general.

Who can open a Help to Save account

You can open a Help to Save account if you are living in the UK and you either receive Working Tax Credit, or are entitled to Working Tax Credit and receive Child Tax Credit, or claim Universal Credit and meet an earnings condition⁵. The Scottish government's cost of living guidance puts the same offer in plain terms: if you get Working Tax Credit or Universal Credit, a Help to Save account could earn you a 50p bonus for every £1 you save⁹.

The earnings threshold for Universal Credit claimants has changed over time, and different sources quote different figures. StepChange's guidance on saving while repaying debt states the condition as household income of £542.88 or more in your last monthly assessment period⁵. Its dedicated Help to Save page gives the threshold as £654.54 or more, and notes that Universal Credit payments themselves do not count as household income for this test³. The government's own evaluation of the scheme recorded the figure as £722.45 or more². Because the threshold is updated, confirm the current figure on the government's Help to Save pages before applying, as older guidance may no longer be accurate.

A few further rules shape who can hold an account:

• Couples: if you and your partner have a household award of tax credits or Universal Credit, you are each allowed to open your own Help to Save account³.
• One account each, ever: an account may be opened only if no Help to Save account has previously been opened for you¹⁰, and the application requires a declaration to that effect¹¹.
• Living abroad: you can apply if you live overseas and you are a Crown servant or their spouse or civil partner, or a member of the British armed forces or their spouse or civil partner³.
• Age: the legislation behind the scheme makes specific provision for contracts entered into by account holders aged 16 or 17¹².

The legal foundation matters for one practical point: if an account is opened for someone who turns out not to have been eligible, the regulations may provide for it to be treated as never having been a Help to Save account¹³. The scheme is set out in the Savings (Government Contributions) Act 2017 and the regulations made under it, which describe a Help to Save account as a sterling savings account held with an authorised account provider¹⁴.

How the two bonuses are worked out

You can earn two tax-free bonuses over the four years of the account¹. Both are worked out from your highest balance, which is the most money your account has held at any point, not the amount left in it at the end.

The first bonus, at the end of year 2, is 50% of the highest balance you saved in the first two years¹. The government's own example: if you pay in £25 every calendar month for two years and make no withdrawals, you save £600, and your first bonus is £300, which is 50% of £600¹. StepChange gives the maximum version of the same sum: save £50 every month for two years, reaching £1,200, and the bonus is £600³.

The final bonus, at the end of year 4, is 50% of the difference between two amounts: the highest balance saved in the first two years and the highest balance saved in the last two years¹. If you keep saving £50 a month after the first bonus, you add another £1,200 to your savings and receive another £600³. Turn2us gives a worked example for a saver named Sadie: her highest balance in years one and two was £900, her highest balance in years three and four was £1,750, the difference is £850, and her bonus after year four is £425, which is 50% of that difference⁶.

In total, you can receive up to £1,200 in two bonuses, one after the second year and another after the fourth⁶. The bonus is paid into your bank account, not your Help to Save account¹, so once it arrives it is yours to spend, save elsewhere or move into another account. The legislation allows the bonus to be paid as a single payment or in two or more payments¹⁵.

Because the first bonus is based on the highest balance, the timing of withdrawals within the first two years does not reduce it: money you take out after your account has peaked still counts towards the bonus you have already earned. The final bonus is where withdrawals bite, which is covered next.

Withdrawals: when taking money out costs you the final bonus

You can take money out of a Help to Save account at any time, and you keep any bonuses you have already earned¹. The account stays open for four years whether you withdraw or not⁵. But withdrawing money could mean you are not able to earn a final bonus, depending on how much you withdraw and when¹.

The reason is the way the final bonus is measured. It is 50% of the rise between the highest balance of years 1 and 2 and the highest balance of years 3 and 4¹. If your highest balance does not increase over the second half of the account, you will not earn a final bonus¹. The government's example: if your highest balance grows from £600 to £800 during years 3 and 4, your final bonus is £100, which is 50% of £200¹.

StepChange gives the clearest warning case: if you withdraw all the money after two years and then carry on saving, you may not get a bonus in year 4, because your highest balance in the later years never goes above the peak you already reached⁵. In practice, the final bonus rewards money that stays in the account and keeps growing on top of it. A saver who treats the account as a genuine emergency fund, dipping in and rebuilding, can still earn a final bonus provided the balance eventually climbs past its earlier peak.

Closing the account early is the most costly option of all: if you close it before the four years are up, you will not be eligible for the next bonus that is due³, and the legislation provides for the bonus to be nil where an account closes, or otherwise ceases to be a Help to Save account, before the end of its maturity period¹⁰. The narrow guide to withdrawing from Help to Save covers the mechanics of taking money out.

Effect on Universal Credit, Housing Benefit and Working Tax Credit

A common worry is that saving will reduce benefits. For Help to Save the position is broadly favourable, with one limit to watch.

The bonuses themselves do not affect your benefits. Bonuses do not affect your Universal Credit or Housing Benefit payments⁵, and Help to Save does not affect how much Working Tax Credit you get⁵. StepChange states the same for Working Tax Credit: it is not affected by any savings or bonuses through Help to Save³.

The savings you hold, as opposed to the bonuses, are subject to the usual capital rules for means-tested benefits. You or your partner can save up to £6,000 without affecting your Universal Credit or Housing Benefit payments, including money in your Help to Save account³. One guidance source for single parents goes further and states that savings held in a Help to Save account do not count towards Universal Credit savings limits even if your balance goes over £6,000¹⁶. Because these two statements come from different independent sources and are not fully reconciled, treat £6,000 as the safe planning figure and confirm the current treatment with the benefits helpline or an independent benefits adviser before letting your balance rise above it. The page on how savings affect Universal Credit and other benefits and the narrow guide to Help to Save and benefits cover the capital rules in detail.

If you stop claiming benefits altogether, the account is unaffected. You only need to meet the criteria when you apply: once opened, you can keep the account for four years even if your circumstances change¹⁶. StepChange puts the same point simply: if you stop claiming benefits, you will still be able to keep using your savings account³.

How to apply and pay in

You can open an account online at gov.uk/helptosave or through the HMRC app⁵. To apply you will need your National Insurance number, your bank account details and a Government Gateway account³. If you cannot get online, you can call the Help to Save helpline on 0300 322 7093⁵.

Once the account is open, you pay money in as you choose, between £1 and £50 each month³. There is no minimum amount of savings needed to get the tax-free bonus³, and no obligation to save every month. The statistics suggest most people find the £50 ceiling easy to work with: the average deposit per person per month is £48, and 94% of monthly deposits are for the maximum⁸.

The scheme's legal structure explains who runs it. Help to Save accounts may be provided only by an authorised account provider, and the paying authority for the bonuses is the Treasury, or HMRC or the Director of Savings if arrangements so provide¹⁵. In practice, since launch the account has been administered through the government's own savings machinery, with NS&I, the government's savings arm, handling accounts; NS&I notes that customers living outside the UK may still save with it if they have a UK bank account¹⁷. The NS&I accounts page explains how that provider works in general.

What happens when the account closes after four years

The account lasts for four years¹⁶. At the end of year 4, the account closes and you keep all your savings plus any bonuses earned¹⁶. The first accounts began reaching this point in January 2022, and closures have continued as accounts mature¹⁸.

The closure rule is absolute: an individual's Help to Save account closes four years after they open it, and they are unable to reopen it or open another Help to Save account². This is set in the legislation, which requires that no Help to Save account has previously been opened for the individual¹⁰, and in the application declaration¹¹.

When the account closes you will need somewhere for the money to go. The guides to types of savings account, easy access accounts and fixed-rate bonds set out the options for holding savings after Help to Save, and how to move savings to a new account covers the practicalities. The narrow guide to when a Help to Save account ends goes deeper on the closing process.

Changes coming: more Universal Credit claimants and new providers

Two big changes are on the way: who can open an account, and who offers them.

Eligibility is widening from April 2028. The government has confirmed it will make the Help to Save scheme permanent¹⁹, and from 6 April 2028 eligibility will be extended to all Universal Credit claimants who receive the child element, the caring element, or both¹⁹. HMRC's tax-free savings newsletter states the same extension, to all Universal Credit claimants receiving the child or caring element, from April 2028²⁰. The Treasury Committee has reported on the expansion to all households receiving the child or carer's element of Universal Credit from April 2028²¹. In effect, the earnings test falls away for parents and carers on Universal Credit, a group that the current earnings threshold excludes many of.

New providers will offer accounts. The government has confirmed that the reformed Help to Save scheme will be delivered through a multi-provider model, with banks, building societies and credit unions able to offer Help to Save accounts directly to eligible customers⁴. HMRC's June 2026 newsletter states that this change will enable financial institutions to offer Help to Save accounts directly to eligible customers²². The legislation already allows for accounts to be moved between authorised providers, with a transferred account treated as a Help to Save account and the two treated as a single account¹³, which is the machinery that makes a multi-provider scheme workable.

The expansion arrives against a background of rapid growth in Universal Credit itself. The migration of tax credit and legacy benefit claimants to Universal Credit, known as Move to Universal Credit, began in October 2023²³. By February 2026, Move to Universal Credit claimants made up 650,000, or 78.3%, of the increase in people on Universal Credit over the previous year in Great Britain, and 20.3% of everyone on Universal Credit were Move to Universal Credit claimants²⁴. Northern Ireland's statistics show the same pattern: Universal Credit there is replacing six older benefits and tax credits²⁵, and claimant numbers rose 12.6% from August 2025 to November 2025²⁶. Universal Credit has now replaced income-related ESA for most new claimants²⁷. As more people move onto Universal Credit, and more of them become eligible for Help to Save from 2028, the scheme's reach grows with it.

Government backing and where to get help

Help to Save is backed by the government, so all savings in the scheme are secure¹⁸. It is a government-funded scheme that helps people on low incomes²⁸. This is a different form of security from the FSCS deposit protection that applies to bank and building society savings: because the money sits with the government's own savings machinery rather than with a commercial bank, the protection comes from the government's backing of the scheme rather than from the FSCS protection that covers ordinary accounts. The page on NS&I accounts and Treasury backing explains how government-backed savings work.

The scheme's evaluation found that take-up was low at the time of the research², which is one reason the government is reforming it: making it permanent, widening eligibility and adding providers are all intended to reach more of the people who qualify⁴.

If money is tight, free help is available. StepChange, the debt charity, publishes guidance on how to save for an emergency and on Help to Save itself, and notes that saving even small amounts regularly is what the scheme rewards²⁸. The Scottish government's cost of living campaign signposts help with debt and money⁹. The Financial Ombudsman Service can handle complaints involving the cost of living, including problems with savings²⁹. For anything to do with the account itself, from eligibility to bonuses, the government's Help to Save pages and the helpline on 0300 322 7093 are the place to start⁵.

If you are weighing Help to Save against other ways of building savings, the comparison of Help to Save or a Lifetime ISA sets the two government bonuses side by side, and paying off debt or building savings first covers the choice many eligible savers face.